I also wanted to know more about my dad’s side of the family, so I contacted a second or third cousin who was in the habit of sending out an annual newsletter about all the people in our extended family, and asked for any information she might have on our origins.  She promptly obliged me with a write-up she’d done, which went as far back as the 1858 arrival in America of the German immigrant who’d directly or indirectly sired us all.

Soon after that, I paid a visit to the Mormon Church’s Los Angeles Family History Center.  I’d read that they offered their services to anyone who was interested in them, regardless of their religion.  I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d be received, but from the minute I walked in the door, they were welcoming and helpful.

They steered me to a researcher who was familiar with just about everything that had gone on in the section of Germany my ancestors were from, including a census taken in 1819.  He didn’t bother searching for the surname Winter (too common), and instead went straight for his wife’s less-common maiden name, Heitmann, in quest of a woman with that last name who had married a Winter.  

Within a few minutes, he found the right microfilmed record, which included their exact address, the names and ages of all their children, and possibly more.  I couldn’t have asked for more on a first try like this.